Health risk assessment of heavy metals in the seafood at Kalpakkam coast, Southeast Bay of Bengal

Environmental Pollutants as Emerging Concerns for Cardiac Diseases: A Review on Their Impacts on Cardiac Health

Comorbidities related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and environmental pollution have emerged as serious concerns. The exposome concept underscores the cumulative impact of environmental factors, including climate change, air pollution, chemicals like PFAS, and heavy metals, on cardiovascular health. Chronic exposure to these pollutants contributes to inflammation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction, further exacerbating the global burden of CVDs. Specifically, carbon monoxide (CO), ozone, particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), heavy metals, pesticides, and micro- and nanoplastics have been implicated in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality through various mechanisms. PM2.5 exposure leads to inflammation and metabolic disruptions. Ozone and CO exposure induce oxidative stress and vascular dysfunction. NO2 exposure contributes to cardiac remodeling and acute cardiovascular events, and sulfur dioxide and heavy metals exacerbate oxidative stress and cellular damage. Pesticides and microplastics pose emerging risks linked to inflammation and cardiovascular tissue damage. Monitoring and risk assessment play a crucial role in identifying vulnerable populations and assessing pollutant impacts, considering factors like age, gender, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle disorders. This review explores the impact of cardiovascular disease, discussing risk-assessment methods, intervention strategies, and the challenges clinicians face in addressing pollutant-induced cardiovascular diseases. It calls for stronger regulatory policies, public health interventions, and green urban planning.

Heavy metal contamination in marine fish from the Andaman sea: Influence of habitat and health risk assessment

This study investigates Hg, Cd, Cu, Zn, and Pb concentrations in 324 fish samples from 43 species, including two cephalopod species, in the Andaman Sea. The fish were categorized into pelagic and demersal groups. The findings revealed average heavy metal concentrations in the order: Zn > Cu > Hg > Pb > Cd, with pelagic fish showing higher levels than demersal fish. Certain larger pelagic fish had mercury concentrations above prescribed limits, posing possible health hazards, even though they are less commonly consumed by humans. Cd and Pb levels in certain species exceeded regulatory thresholds of 0.05-1 μg/g and 0.3 μg/g, respectively, while Cu and Zn remained within safe limits. Although the overall cancer risk was low, the Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) and Hazard Index (HI) values surpassed 1, indicating significant health risks from consuming species such as Alopias superciliosus, Isurus oxyrinchus, Lepturacanthus savala, Makaira mazara, and Sphyraena barracuda. These findings underscore the need for ongoing monitoring and public advisories to mitigate health risks.

Trace metal accumulations in commercially important fish and crab species from impacted tropical estuary, India: implications on human health risk assessment

Despite the beneficial role of aquatic food, bioaccumulation of trace metals can increase health risk for consumers. We conducted a comprehensive study to understand the levels of various trace metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn and Mn) in fish (Nematalosa nasus, Gerres filamentosus, Arius arius, Gerres erythrourus, Sardinella fimbriata, Caranx ignobilis, Etroplus suratensis, Mugil cephalus, Sillago sihama, and Euryglossa orientalis) and crab (Portunus pelagicus and Scylla serrata) species collected from Netravathi-Gurupur estuary, India and evaluated the potential health risks to humans by measuring target health hazard (THQ), hazard index (HI), estimated daily (EDI) and weekly (EWI) intake and cancer risk (CR). The hierarchy of toxic metal content in studied species was Fe>Pb>Cr>Mn>Zn>Cu>Ni>Cd>Co. The concentration of heavy metals were distinctly lower than the threshold value as suggested by World Health Organization and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, except for Cr and Pb in few species. THQ values were below the acceptable limit. However, the estimated mean HI values were >1 for children, indicating they may be vulnerable to health risk due to continuous consumption of contaminated aquatic species from the study area. In contrast, the cancer risk for Cr, Cd, and Pb was below the acceptable range. Principal component analysis (PCA) discerned nearby petrochemical industry, electroplating industry, pesticides and fertilizer from agricultural runoff, as the potential sources of metal bioaccumulation in different tissues. Although the study reveals that metal contamination in aquatic species does not pose any immediate human health effect, continuous monitoring of the study area is recommended, as some metals have demonstrated their ability to accumulate in the tissues.

Occurrence, accumulation, ecological risk, and source identification of potentially toxic elements in multimedia in a subtropical bay, Southeast China

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in seawater and sediments may be amplified along the aquatic food chain, posing a health threat to humans. This study comprehensively analyzed the concentrations, distribution, potential sources, and health risk of 7 PTEs in multimedia (seawater, sediment and organism) in typical subtropical bays in southern China. The results indicated that Zn was the most abundant element in seawater, and the average concentration of Cd in sediment was 3.93 times higher than the background value. Except for As, the seasonal differences in surface seawater were not significant. The content of Zn in fishes, crustacea, and shellfish was the highest, while the contents of Hg and Cd were relatively low. Bioaccumulation factor indicated that Zn was a strongly bioaccumulated element in seawater, while Cd was more highly enriched by aquatic organisms in sediment. According to principal component analysis (PCA), and positive matrix factorization (PMF), the main sources of PTEs in Quanzhou Bay were of natural derivation, industrial sewage discharge, and agricultural inputs, each contributing 40.4 %, 24.2 %, and 35.4 %, respectively. This study provides fundamental and significant information for the prevention of PTEs contamination in subtropical bays, the promotion of ecological safety, and the assessment of human health risk from PTEs in seafood.

Contamination and health risk assessment of heavy metals in soil surrounding an electroplating factory in JiaXing, China

A total of 30 samples from the downwind direction of a certain electroplating company in Jiaxing were collected in layers to analyze their heavy metal content. The soil risk assessment was conducted from the perspective of ecological and human health risks using the ground accumulation index method and human health risk assessment method. The results showed that in all samples, cadmium and arsenic far exceeded the soil background values, with an average exceeding multiple of 14.31 and 64.42, respectively, and a exceeding rate of 100%. After evaluation by the ground accumulation index, among these six heavy metals, arsenic and cadmium belong to extremely serious pollution levels. The human health risk assessment of electroplating plants found that in the exposure risk assessment, the ingestion value was much greater than the harm caused by breathing and skin, and the maximum exposure damage value of arsenic to children and adults was 4.17 × 10-3, among the carcinogenic risks, the risk brought by consumption is much greater than the respiratory and skin carcinogenic risk index, with the highest value score of 3.37 for cadmium, arsenic, and zinc carcinogenic risks 3.37 × 10-6, 2.42 × 10-3, 1.10 × 10-4.

Heavy metal bioaccumulation and risk assessment in fishery resources from the Gulf of Thailand

The muscle tissues of 19 fish species, two crab species, and one shrimp species collected from the Gulf of Thailand (GoT) were analyzed to determine the levels of heavy metals, including Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Cd, and Hg. The results revealed that the mean concentrations of the heavy metals, in descending order, were Zn > Cu > Fe > Cd > Hg > Mn > Pb > Ni. Among the examined metals, zinc was found to be the most prevalent in fish tissues. Based on the risk assessment indices, the estimated average daily doses (ADD) of the heavy metals were found to be below the provisional tolerable daily intake (PTDI) recommended by the joint Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on food contaminants. The results of the target cancer risk analysis revealed no related cancer risk from the consumption of the fishes considered for the study. However, the target hazard quotient (THQ) values exceeded the threshold of 1 (THQ > 1) specifically for mercury in Gymnothorax spp. and Terapon spp. Furthermore, the calculated hazard index (HI) values for fish muscles were all below 1, indicating that there is no significant health risk for humans at the current consumption rates, except in Terapon species for both normal and habitual consumers. Notably, habitual consumers of Gymnothorax species showed the highest HI value (>1), suggesting potential long-term effects on human health when consuming larger quantities of these fishes.

Assessment of health risks due to toxic metals in demersal fish captured from Saros and Edremit Bays, Northern Aegean Sea

Bays are vulnerable ecosystems generally located near densely populated areas where toxic metals tend to accumulate and stay longer, affecting marine life. This study aimed to investigate the age-based health risks arising from Hg, Cd, Pb, and As in demersal fish captured from two major bays in the Aegean Sea. For this purpose, red mullet, whiting, piper gurnard, and tub gurnard, frequently consumed species, were caught from Saros and Edremit Bays. Toxic metal concentrations were determined from the muscle tissue of fish. Health risk assessments were conducted by the estimation of weekly intake (EWI), provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), target hazard quotient (THQ), total THQ (TTHQ), and target carcinogenic risk (TR). Red mullet from Edremit Bay was the species with the highest toxic metal levels, which were 1.597 mg/kg, 0.041 mg/kg, 0.070 mg/kg, and 19.351 mg/kg for Hg, Cd, Pb, and As, respectively. Whiting from Edremit Bay had higher mean concentrations of Hg and As than those from Saros Bay. The levels of Hg, Pb, and As (0.328, 0.043, and 0.574 mg/kg) in the tub gurnard were higher in comparison with the piper gurnard (0.252, 0.020, and 0.382 mg/kg) caught in the same station in Saros. TTHQs of red mullet and whiting from the same bay were found to be > 1, indicating potential health risks for all nine age categories studied. On the other hand, TTHQs of all species from Saros Bay were determined to be > 1 for the first four age categories, which might trigger health risks for children and adolescents. According to the TR index for Pb, no risk was determined for the fish from both bays. However, TR calculations for inorganic As indicated high cancer risk in most of the age categories for red mullet and whiting from Edremit Bay. To sum up, the results revealed that the fish captured from Edremit Bay posed serious health risks in terms of Hg and As concentrations for all nine age categories. Surveillance and monitoring of toxic metal levels in demersal fish and population-based health risk evaluation are vital in heavily populated bays.

Maritime disasters and pollution: X-Press Pearl maritime debacle

Ocean ecosystems and global well-being are connected and significant. Over the past few decades, shipping accidents have caused severe marine pollution all over the world, and after a lull during the hike of COVID pandemic, polluting events are again on the rise. Marine pollution caused by maritime accidents requires a clear understanding of the fate of spilled pollutants, post-disaster challenges, pollutant removal strategies, and mitigation strategies against environmental damage. Considering proactive prevention is always better than reactive response, while understanding accidents and ensuring corrective action is even more important. This Special Issue provides a broad overview of the marine and coastal pollution, not limited to, but focused on the 2021 X-Press Pearl containership disaster off the coast of Sri Lanka, and the impact on the marine environment. Topics address the most unprecedented nurdle and pyroplastic spill and subsequent oil spillage of the X-Press Pearl, causes and consequences of polluting ship disasters, novel oil pollution mitigation approaches, needfulness of post-disaster environmental assessment plans, future requirements for ecosystem restoration and environmental management of shipping, and other aspects of coastal pollution that are timely to consider unprecedented pressures, which marine environments are now subjected to.